Delaware County Council has approved a new human relations commission, but specifics on how it will work are still being ironed out, writes Kenny Cooper for WHYY.
Council unanimously passed a resolution on Sept 17 to create the commission, but it tabled a proposed ordinance that would have given the commission the power to mediate discrimination complaints.
That ordinance is still being worked on and will be reintroduced, making the establishment of the commission largely a symbolic move at this point.
“I don’t want anyone to interpret this as any kind of action or retrenchment from at least my desire to have this commission in place,” Councilmember Elaine Paul Schaefer said at the meeting. “Instead, it’s quite the opposite. We care so deeply about this that we want to do it right.”
Council first introduced the idea of a human relations commission in a proposed ordinance on Aug. 20. By Sept. 3, council was hearing passionate arguments both for and against the commission.
Some opponents described the commission as unconstitutional, worried about costly legal challenges to the county, and said it would be a redundancy, duplicating rights already protected at the state level.
Read more about Delaware County’s efforts to bring a human relations commission to the county at WHYY.
